Inconsistent Handling of Revert Data in Error Objects

[web3skeptic]

Ethers Version

6.13.2

Search Terms

No response

Describe the Problem

Inconsistent Handling of Revert Data in Error Objects

Description

With help of provider.on("debug") hooks, I've tracked inconsistent error object structures when transactions revert. The same transaction can sometimes return proper execution revert data and other times return "missing revert data" error without the "execution reverted" message, making it difficult to reliably extract revert reasons.

Observed Behavior

For the exact same transaction input, I sometimes receive:

1. Case 1 (Missing "execution reverted" message):

{
    "action": "receiveEip1193Error",
    "error": {
        "code": -32603,
        "data": {
            "code": -32015,
            "message": "0xe237d92200000000000000000000000040c8e83414dca470b8bad8a46c91837b80f960a4000000000000000000000000b604ccd343cdf254e100f206d903d6975ea2950b",
            "cause": null
        },
        "payload": {
            "method": "eth_estimateGas",
            "params": [
                {
                    "value": "0x0",
                    "from": "0x40c8e83414dca470b8bad8a46c91837b80f960a4",
                    "to": "0xc12c1e50abb450d6205ea2c3fa861b3b834d13e8",
                    "data": "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"
                }
            ]
        }
    }
}

2. Case 2 (Proper error structure):

{
    "action": "receiveEip1193Error",
    "error": {
        "code": -32603,
        "data": {
            "code": 3,
            "message": "execution reverted",
            "data": "0xe237d92200000000000000000000000040c8e83414dca470b8bad8a46c91837b80f960a4000000000000000000000000b604ccd343cdf254e100f206d903d6975ea2950b",
            "cause": null
        },
        "payload": {
            "method": "eth_estimateGas",
            "params": [
                {
                    "value": "0x0",
                    "from": "0x40c8e83414dca470b8bad8a46c91837b80f960a4",
                    "to": "0xc12c1e50abb450d6205ea2c3fa861b3b834d13e8",
                    "data": "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"
                }
            ]
        }
    }
}

Key Differences

Property	Case 1 (Problematic)	Case 2 (Expected)
error.data.code	-32015	3
error.data.message	Contains raw revert data	"execution reverted"
error.data.data	Missing	Contains raw revert data

Impact

This inconsistency makes it difficult to build reliable error handling logic, because the getBuiltinCallException function logic

ethers.js/src.ts/abi/abi-coder.ts

Line 59 in 0195f44

let message = "missing revert data";

does not passes the message to the application level.

Environment

• ethers.js version: 6.13.2
• Network: GnosisChain
• Provider type: Brwoser Metamask extension

Steps to Reproduce

1. Set up a debug hook:

provider.on("debug", (info) => {
    console.log("DEBUG:", info);
});

2. Attempt to create a transaction which should fail and cause the revert

const txResponse = await signer.sendTransaction(tx);

3. The exact steps to reproduce the issue was not identified, run the same code multiple times to observe the inconsistent error structures.

Environment

Browser (Chrome, Safari, etc)

Environment (Other)

No response

[ricmoo]

Thanks! Yes, that makes sense to coalesce. I can add the logic to “just do it”, but would also love to test it out. If you figure out what the difference is, it would help otherwise I’ll just hammer it and hope it’s a client issue like timeout for a db read or such.

This is the entire point of the error coalescence in ethers, so I definitely want it fixed. :)